Okay, snowflakes... [challenge day 1]

[tielan]

Going to make this short, because I don't really have time but I think it's important to develop communities in these really awful times.

Challenge #1

In your own space, introduce yourself! Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Hi, I'm Tielan!

I'm Australian, living in Sydney. I'm not near the fires (where 'near' means the closest one is about 40km away and not likely to reach me) and only know a few people caught up in them. I think our Prime Minister is an idiot, but the likely candidate to replace him (not the Deputy Prime Minister) is even more terrifying a prospect. ScoMo tries to put on humanity like a badly-fitting suit, but Dutton's given up even bothering with the pretence of it.

My pets are two cats and two chooks - I'm fonder of the cats than I am of the chooks, although I quite like the chooks, too. Occasionally I post pictures of them here. I have a vegetable garden (or I did; don't know if I will by the end of today since the temperature is 40C and the wind is hot and dry and basically kills everything) and about a dozen fruit trees. I'm a permaculture gardener which pretty much means "trying to use the ways that nature does things in order to make less work for us as we grown things" but it feels like it's not doing very well right now.

One of my hobbies is quilting, although I haven't been doing either as often in the last year, and I occasionally make dresses for parties or events.

I love food and cooking, but I hate cleaning up. I post recipe links and sometimes pictures of what I've cooked - mostly desserts, because they end up looking pretty spectacular.

Sometimes I post links to news articles that interest me, sometimes ones that I want to find again, sometimes ones that just want to read at some point in the future.

I'm het, female, non-white, feminist, Christian, activist, Slytherin, INTJ, Choleric, and either an Enneagram 3 or 6 depending on whether the wind is in the nor-norwest.

*shrugs*

Comments

Hello!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>I have a vegetable garden (or I did; don't know if I will by the end of today since the temperature is 40C and the wind is hot and dry and basically kills everything) and about a dozen fruit trees. I'm a permaculture gardener which pretty much means "trying to use the ways that nature does things in order to make less work for us as we grown things" but it feels like it's not doing very well right now.<<

Well, not unless you're trying to grow witchetty grubs or other bush tucker. Australia wasn't exactly a forgiving place for European plants even before people cut down enough of the coastal belt forest to change the seasons to On Fire/Not Currently On Fire. I say this from the perspective of central USA looking toward California where people also cut down enough of the coastal forests to create seasons of On Fire/Not Currently On Fire. Alas. This is why I'm looking more at native species over time, and also things that are resistant to ice, violent winds, drought, and flood.

>>I love food and cooking, but I hate cleaning up. I post recipe links and sometimes pictures of what I've cooked - mostly desserts, because they end up looking pretty spectacular.<<

One reason I love crockpots is the simplicity. Dump everything in and ignore for 4 hours. I am not a fan of crockpot recipes that require a lot of fussing around to cook things in several other devices first. The last thing I crocked was an improvisation and it turned out mouth-watering.

Re: Hello!

[tielan]

Mmm, crockpots. My sister made a kind of soy sauce beef with garlic this morning and it's been a very nice dinner.

Re: Hello!

[ysabetwordsmith]

Yay! Soy sauce is a good all-purpose savory flavoring. Worcestershire sauce is another. My newest one is Mushroom Truffle Hunt.

[spikedluv]

I think it's important to develop communities in these really awful times.

So true.

I learned to knit last year! I'm still very much a beginner, but I'm enjoying it.

[tielan]

Knitting makes my eyes hurt and my hands ache; too much concentration taking place in a small space...

[spikedluv]

When I first started I was so tense and holding the needles so tight my arms actually hurt. (And my stitches were so tight, which made it worse.) I had to stop once in a while and shake it out. I'm so glad I finally figured out how to loosen up. *g*

[tielan]

Hah. It might very well be that I should just push through. Or I might be a wound-up individual anyway, so it's probably best if I'm not in control of the thread/wool tension... :)